Lollipop165:Big Man On Campus: All you need to have done to see the epidemic of materialism was to drive through south central Los Angeles on any weekend, preferably holiday weekend, before the 2007/2008 crash and look at the cars the people who live there drive. It seemed that a double-digit percentage of people that live in the LA Slums at one point owned a Cadillac Escalade. Their homes usually had bars on the windows and the yards were not well maintained. However, their mobile-status symbol which they had probably not made regular payments on, let them drive anywhere in LA and appear "wealthy".

Materialism run amok, L.A. is the heart of it all.

Hehe, same in NYC. The project's parking lots are filled with SWEET cars.

And my husband and I make a living in the top 8% and don't even own one.

I'm not sure poor people renting nice things is pure materialism as much as it is hopelessness. When one doesn't believe they have a chance at a successful future, there isn't much incentive to save money. This goes double for anyone who gets their income from criminal activity. Talk to poor people about smoking and how it is a drain on their wallet and health, and they will often respond with both an acknowledgement that you are correct as well as a presenting their habit as some type of defiance against their lot in life. Smoking feels good now, and they will be a paycheck or two away from the streets whether they quit or not.

Of course I'm not saying they are right to think this way, as they would all be better off if they made good decisions. You can see this kind of behavior in other ways in other walks of life as well. It isn't restricted to being poor. People who don't think they will find love not bothering to make themselves more attractive, etc.

materialism isn't bad in itself, it's just that most people don't know what really makes them happy, we think we know but really it's just a guess, and that stresses people out to the point they aren't as picky in what they buy, but because they don't have a lot of money they latch onto whatever it is they can get, and the cycle continues...

Smackledorfer:Lollipop165: Big Man On Campus: All you need to have done to see the epidemic of materialism was to drive through south central Los Angeles on any weekend, preferably holiday weekend, before the 2007/2008 crash and look at the cars the people who live there drive. It seemed that a double-digit percentage of people that live in the LA Slums at one point owned a Cadillac Escalade. Their homes usually had bars on the windows and the yards were not well maintained. However, their mobile-status symbol which they had probably not made regular payments on, let them drive anywhere in LA and appear "wealthy".

Materialism run amok, L.A. is the heart of it all.

Hehe, same in NYC. The project's parking lots are filled with SWEET cars.

And my husband and I make a living in the top 8% and don't even own one.

I'm not sure poor people renting nice things is pure materialism as much as it is hopelessness. When one doesn't believe they have a chance at a successful future, there isn't much incentive to save money. This goes double for anyone who gets their income from criminal activity. Talk to poor people about smoking and how it is a drain on their wallet and health, and they will often respond with both an acknowledgement that you are correct as well as a presenting their habit as some type of defiance against their lot in life. Smoking feels good now, and they will be a paycheck or two away from the streets whether they quit or not.

Of course I'm not saying they are right to think this way, as they would all be better off if they made good decisions. You can see this kind of behavior in other ways in other walks of life as well. It isn't restricted to being poor. People who don't think they will find love not bothering to make themselves more attractive, etc.

No, I understand completely. Interestingly, there were some studies done that says that the wealthier you are, the more likely you are to buy the "store" brand of items rather than the name brand items of food and just regular necessities like shaving gels and soaps.

It's because the wealthier don't see Doritos or Dove soap as a status marker, so it doesn't matter whether or not you buy the name brand or the store brand. For the poor, these are "affordable" luxuries and are things that set a family making $25k apart from a family making $20k.

That being said, an Escelade ain't an "affordable" luxury no matter how you cut it.

I love gardening and baking. Those two things require a lot of stuff that I wouldn't save in a house fire and a lot more space than a 400 sq ft apartment, but doing them make me happy. If you love reading all day and can get away with an iPad or kindle, good for you. Some hobbies take up more space and require more stuff than others.

santadog:When I moved from one state to another to start a business, I sold just about everything I owned off.I've been unencumbered since then.It's true.. don't let your possessions possess you.

From your profile:

Lives: Austin, Texas in the winter and then Estes Park, Colorado in the summer.not buying into consumerism

ActivitiesScootering, hiking, camping, exploring, road trips, photography, playing with my cattle dog, kayaking, wandering... You sound a lot like the author of the article. I could be wrong, as maybe you are living in a tent city in your separate winter and summer home locations. But you sound like someone who is doing fine financially (which most of the nation can't say at this point) while at the same time lecturing about what decisions others make with their money.

"You'll never live like common people. You'll never do the things that common people do.You'll never fail like common people. You'll never watch your life slide out of viewAnd dance and drink and screw, because there's nothing else to do."

thomps: RexTalionis: Lumpmoose: A phone isn't supposed to "excite" you or improve your emotional state. You sound farked up in the head in a way that shouldn't be blamed on materialism. See a therapist. Moving from one extreme to the other doesn't make you wise.

My phone improves my emotional state.

yeah but that has more to do with your abuse of the vibration function 1-900 numbers than your reliance on materialism.

secularsage:I think it's great that he can live this way, but I also notice that he's not trying to raise a family, which is where a lot of that junk comes from.

Seriously. My 2-year-old has more possessions than I ever thought possible-- and that's with us constantly telling her, "no, you can't have that" at the store.

I don't disagree, but I know a couple of people who live in tiny 2 bed apts, not much bigger than 500sf who do absolutely fine with babies. 99% of "stuff" for a child is because of want, not of need. Another good friend of mine has 2 elementary school kids and they make it at about 800sf - he said that's pretty normal from where he's from in Europe. The fact is, before 1970 or so, the average family lived fine on a house under 1000sf. My own apartment is huge by middle class NYC standards - 1300sf. I don't think I could ever really live in bigger.

That being said, every single one of those couples has at least 1 parent from abroad. Foreigners are generally much more used to smaller spaces and a more minimalist lifestyle. Americans are on consumerist overdrive.

luidprand:DubyaHater: I respect this man. Most people are truly unhappy with their material possessions. We are always trying to acquire the latest gadget and latest technology in a vain attempt to show our friends and colleagues how much money we have. We end up in a vicious cycle of acquiring more and more meaningless possessions that end up in our attics/basements. It's a sad life we all lead.

In the past few years, I have rejected cable for the mundane programming it provides. I also rejected my XBox because video games do not provide positive mental stimulation. With the loss of my cable and XBox, I discovered my television was no longer useful and I sold that on Craig's List. Now I can properly stimulate my mind and study the world we live in. I can sit down at a dinner table and have deep, meaningful discussions about classical music and Renaissance art.

I sold my newer automobiles with all their fancy technology for a 1995 Honda Accord that gets 25mpg. It has a radio (for NPR) and A/C. What more do I need? I can buy a map at a gas station for $3 if I need directions.

Obviously most people could never understand the way I live. Most people reject a simplistic lifestyle for fear of ridicule by their "friends". But let me ask you, are they really your friends if they judge you by the life you lead? Since I switched to a more ideal lifestyle, I have met people who truly accept me. I have rejected those who live in their materialistic world. They could never understand the pleasures I now experience.

It seems the problem here (and with King Douchenozzle in the original article) is that y'all never learned how to moderate or be picky. If you it isn't useful or enjoyable (or, preferably, both), don't buy it. It isn't "we" who live in a vicious cycle - it was you. Most people don't live like that - they have family and religion and hobbies and work that fill that void to overflowing. Don't generalize your experience here - not everyone is, has been, or wil ...

While I understand the authors point, and am in that process myself, He is a complete douchbag. My process of realizing I had too much stuff was entirely the result of being a too busy father. Working all the time and only worrying about making enough time to get to the computer to push all the buttons to pay the bills means that my wife and children were essentially in charge of our purchases.

I cant spread all the blame, I mean I had a gun collection and a couple of toy 4x4's that I imagined I might someday have the time to use to their potential. But I also had my wifes camper, a vacation club membership, my childrens desire to have an all digital household with all the toys....

You just get to a point where the 60 hours you work in a week do not leave enough time for you to visit your wife, children, hobby or to wonder where the camper is parked and if there are racoons living in it. I had 36 rental properties with a total of 120 units to manage, a pool my tenants have access too, 36 basements-fencelines-roofs-public halls to worry about.

Its really just too much. I wasnt using any of the stuff I worked so hard to have. It hit me when we were in the middle of picking out a hot tub to put on the pool deck and I was drafting up a $10,000 gazebo with electric and plumbing and thinking about all the great parties we might have.........That I realized I was never going to have a hot tub party because that would mean being up late and I needed to be on the phone and in the properties by 8 am most mornings.

Set some priorities. Never put yourself at the top of that list. And never let the enjoyment of a thing get in the way of spending time with your wife and kids. Eventually you will realize that your priorities mean you can all drop everything and go use the vacation club without being overwhelmed.

Joe Peanut:His minimalist life includes an apartment in SoHo, a $4,000 dining room table, and a $8,000+ bed.

All the stuff he bought the first time was about attracting women.

Now everything he does and buys is about establishing that he is not materialistic and shallow. He finally realized that just being rich doesn't make you a desirable social contact. He wants the respect that buying things didnt bring him. It just ,means he spends more money on fewer things.

For me it meant realizing I was only ever going to carry one concealed handgun, so there was little point in owning one of every awesome cool new weapon on the market.And that there wasnt much point in having the best party house in the neighborhood if I was too busy to ever have a party.

Long story short: If you have the ability to choose to live a type of life, it's fine for you to let the rest of us know how that works and make reasoned arguments as to why it might work for someone else. It's not fine for you to imply that you're better than the rest of us just for making that choice, since some of us don't have the option to make those choices. Hence, I'm not impressed by the minimalist argument presented by someone with megabucks, because they aren't really trying to argue for minimalism. They're just wanting admiration for being in a position where they had so much crap that they could give it away and still maintain a decent standard of living. The people who have no choice but to be minimalists might be happy that way, or they might be living life without a safety net.

Likewise, I choose a restricted, plant-based diet, for health reasons. I don't expect admiration for it, especially considering many people would have neither the means nor the methods to follow it themselves, or may be in a situation in which rich foods and meats aren't something to which they have access anyway. I understand that because I get to choose whether I buy my food at the farmer's market or at a fancy restaurant, I'm one of the lucky ones.

DubyaHater:I respect this man. Most people are truly unhappy with their material possessions. We are always trying to acquire the latest gadget and latest technology in a vain attempt to show our friends and colleagues how much money we have. We end up in a vicious cycle of acquiring more and more meaningless possessions that end up in our attics/basements. It's a sad life we all lead.

In the past few years, I have rejected cable for the mundane programming it provides. I also rejected my XBox because video games do not provide positive mental stimulation. With the loss of my cable and XBox, I discovered my television was no longer useful and I sold that on Craig's List. Now I can properly stimulate my mind and study the world we live in. I can sit down at a dinner table and have deep, meaningful discussions about classical music and Renaissance art.

I sold my newer automobiles with all their fancy technology for a 1995 Honda Accord that gets 25mpg. It has a radio (for NPR) and A/C. What more do I need? I can buy a map at a gas station for $3 if I need directions.

Obviously most people could never understand the way I live. Most people reject a simplistic lifestyle for fear of ridicule by their "friends". But let me ask you, are they really your friends if they judge you by the life you lead? Since I switched to a more ideal lifestyle, I have met people who truly accept me. I have rejected those who live in their materialistic world. They could never understand the pleasures I now experience.

Pocket Ninja:His description of Olga makes me think his life trajectory is actually closer to something like this:

1) Guy makes a lot of money, is happy, buys lots of crap he doesn't need.2) Guy meets girl who's very different from the normal, vapid, airheaded, money-grubbing girls he normally meets. She travels places he's never been, listens to bands he's never heard of, is shockingly open about how much she enjoys sex, and constantly talks about how she doesn't care about money.3) "Doesn't care about money" actually translates to "doesn't have money," but regardless of that fact she has learned that life can be experienced, gripped by the teeth, so to speak, by befriending people who do have it.4) Girl who doesn't care about/have money and guy who has money and wants to keep farking girl go on trip together to gritty but safe third world destination. He sees gritty things, like people bathing in rivers. Girl has a copy of "Lonely Planet" that they use to find authentic local restaurants filled with backpack-toting Americans.5) Guy begins to believe girl's message that money is unimportant, despite the fact that he is paying for everything. He begins to question his previous values. She encourages him, sometimes while out shopping.6) They return home. Guy announces plans to change his lifestyle, downsize, become less material.7) Girl dumps him.

The rest is fallout. Anyway, it's just one theory.

This is pretty much it. He's so self-obsessed he still can't see anything outside of himself, he just sees himself differently now.

impaler:Full Blown Jimbo: Okay, I stopped twitching long enough to read more carefully. He only ripped off Palahniuk once, and it wasn't a direct quote. Still, he ripped him off and some people who read this crap will think he's SO clever. Ass.

Curious, what was the Chuck Palahniuk quote?

He says in TFA that, "the things I consumed ended up consuming me." Tyler Durden says, "The things you own end up owning you."

You buy furniture. You tell yourself, this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life. Buy the sofa, then for a couple years you're satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you've got your sofa issue handled. Then the right set of dishes. Then the perfect bed. The drapes. The rug. Then you're trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you.

Full Blown Jimbo:impaler: Full Blown Jimbo: Okay, I stopped twitching long enough to read more carefully. He only ripped off Palahniuk once, and it wasn't a direct quote. Still, he ripped him off and some people who read this crap will think he's SO clever. Ass.

Curious, what was the Chuck Palahniuk quote?

He says in TFA that, "the things I consumed ended up consuming me." Tyler Durden says, "The things you own end up owning you."

You buy furniture. You tell yourself, this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life. Buy the sofa, then for a couple years you're satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you've got your sofa issue handled. Then the right set of dishes. Then the perfect bed. The drapes. The rug. Then you're trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you.

I enjoyed fight club, but anyone who gets owned by furniture that can be packed up and moved to another apartment any time they need a life change is a freaking moron.

Now a house and family on the other hand, that shiat can lock you in :D

BafflerMeal:Full Blown Jimbo: impaler: Full Blown Jimbo: Okay, I stopped twitching long enough to read more carefully. He only ripped off Palahniuk once, and it wasn't a direct quote. Still, he ripped him off and some people who read this crap will think he's SO clever. Ass.

Curious, what was the Chuck Palahniuk quote?

He says in TFA that, "the things I consumed ended up consuming me." Tyler Durden says, "The things you own end up owning you."

I've never understood the appeal of Ted talks. I watched maybe 10 of them before I realized they were self-absorbed know-it-alls who think they need to educate everyone about a niche topic, which they usually only know a modicum about. No offense Drew, but yours was a prime example.

100 percent chance of nobody anywhere at any time asking YOU to give one, that's for sure.

Retired, with the kids gone, this is our home, 240 square feet. We love it, you know where all your stuff is, and I wouldn't go back to living in a regular house. Sometimes, I'll wake upnot know where the heck I am, and have to look out the window, or go out and walk around. Great feeling.

I so want to do this in retirement--wife and I have been discussing it on and off for years. Taxes in upstate NY will do that to ya.

I've never understood the appeal of Ted talks. I watched maybe 10 of them before I realized they were self-absorbed know-it-alls who think they need to educate everyone about a niche topic, which they usually only know a modicum about. No offense Drew, but yours was a prime example.

100 percent chance of nobody anywhere at any time asking YOU to give one, that's for sure.

True Fact: My nephew just gave a TED Talk at UNC, about sexism in gamer culture. He did OK.

God Is My Co-Pirate:"Money isn't important! Taking a couple of years off to travel around the world with your closest friends is what's important!"

THIS. FFS, yes, you should invest in travel, good food, etc., but you need the money to do that first, you pompous twit. For the rest of us, you're not giving advice, you're just pointing out that the system is rigged to people like you who lucked into money (or people who were born into it). Fark off.

"I used to be a self--absorbed dork with a better--than--you attitude and a lot of useless expensive junk to prove it, but now I am a self--absorbed dork with a better--than--you attitude, who has learned to be just as much of a self--absorbed dork as ever, but not to spend so much money at it."

I've been living on 300-800 a month for ten years. What gives? The only thing that it entitles me to is to laugh at all the 99%ers about how hard their life is. There's no zen to be found in living off a diet of rice, canned veggies from the dollar store, eggs, and the half off bread rack.

Oh wait what's that? We need to live -smaller-, not -actually- poorer. Because frankly who cares about living in a studio when you can afford to go out to eat, and stock your fridge with actual meat and dairy products?

I've met two extremely rich people and they both handle it well. One restores old motorcycles, takes them apart, replaces worn or damaged parts, paints them, then sells them and buys other motorcycles to rebuild. The other has a college degree and two post graduate degrees and writes long letters to the editors of various newspapers. A good day for him is to see a letter published. Neither has ever earned a paycheck but they stay busy and are happy to share a cold beer any time. This guy in the article needs to find something to take his focus off of himself and get a refrigerator full of cold beer.

sleeps in trees:God Is My Co-Pirate: Generation_D: Pocket Ninja: His description of Olga makes me think his life trajectory is actually closer to something like this:

1) Guy makes a lot of money, is happy, buys lots of crap he doesn't need.2) Guy meets girl who's very different from the normal, vapid, airheaded, money-grubbing girls he normally meets. She travels places he's never been, listens to bands he's never heard of, is shockingly open about how much she enjoys sex, and constantly talks about how she doesn't care about money.3) "Doesn't care about money" actually translates to "doesn't have money," but regardless of that fact she has learned that life can be experienced, gripped by the teeth, so to speak, by befriending people who do have it.4) Girl who doesn't care about/have money and guy who has money and wants to keep farking girl go on trip together to gritty but safe third world destination. He sees gritty things, like people bathing in rivers. Girl has a copy of "Lonely Planet" that they use to find authentic local restaurants filled with backpack-toting Americans.5) Guy begins to believe girl's message that money is unimportant, despite the fact that he is paying for everything. He begins to question his previous values. She encourages him, sometimes while out shopping.6) They return home. Guy announces plans to change his lifestyle, downsize, become less material.7) Girl dumps him.

Self-centered douchebag hipster came into some money and was too shortsighted to know how to have fun with it. Now he's still spending a lot and still not having fun, and wants to tell us about it. That's quite the compelling story.

Had he instead discovered cocaine,ecstasy, fine wine, and Porsches, this would've been a more interesting tale. Also much shorter.

StrangeQ:sigdiamond2000: The one single, common trait of all self-help gurus, minimalist living scolds, life coaches, "professional organizers," or any other fraudster of the multi-billion dollar personal improvement industry is this: They're all rich.

Yep. They can enjoy having their minimalist lifestyle where they don't have to worry about anything because they are rich enough that they don't have to worry about anything. They can spout the "I don't have to have a fancy sports car to be happy" bullshiat safe in their knowledge that if they wanted to, they could buy one any time they wanted, in cash. There is a difference between being denied something by choice and being denied because it is impossible for one to obtain. The former is a decision that one makes of their own free will, the latter is forced upon them. Big farking surprise the the members of the former category have magically found a way to be at peace with themselves.

Moderately well-off people who want to drive a sports car, have to buy a sports a car. Wealthy people who want to drive a sports car go rent one for $5000 a day. Moderately well-off people want a lawn so they can have barbecues in the summer, have a place for their kids/pets/whomever to play. Wealthy people can just rent some exclusive rooftop terrace/garden whenever they feel like it.

I agree in the general sense that North America is too materialistic. I don't have a lot of stuff because I have a job that moves me around the world every 2-4 years and it's a pain in the ass to ship anything more than a few suitcases. But obsessing/bragging about how much stuff you don't have is just as bad as obsessing/bragging about how much stuff you do have.

I've never understood the appeal of Ted talks. I watched maybe 10 of them before I realized they were self-absorbed know-it-alls who think they need to educate everyone about a niche topic, which they usually only know a modicum about. No offense Drew, but yours was a prime example.

100 percent chance of nobody anywhere at any time asking YOU to give one, that's for sure.

True Fact: My nephew just gave a TED Talk at UNC, about sexism in gamer culture. He did OK.

Excellent.

Hating on Ted talks is a new one for me. "I can't stand it when top people in their fields share information! It's soooo lame!"

How precious. If I had cashed out from an Internet startup, I could do the same thing. Whatever I needed at the moment I could just go buy, use, and unload. Ordinary people buy stuff because they are going to need it later when they can't buy stuff. Let's have an article about ordinary working Joes and how they can live in a 420 sq. ft. house with their wives and kids. Not gonna happen? I though so.